NOVEL WEB 4: Captain America!
Note: Disclaimer
I believe people already know this, but I still want to make a disclaimer beforehand. This story does not seek to faithfully and accurately represent the historical facts that occurred during or after World War II.
I am not a history teacher nor am I well-versed in it. The facts, names, and timing of certain events should not be taken as faithful and accurate information, as these may change for narrative convenience. Everything mentioned in this story is for entertainment purposes and is fictional.
Thank you.
4: Captain America!
"Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Before you stands the unmatched! The strongest, the number one soldier of the United States! He who instills fear in our enemies and safeguards our freedom! The first and only Super Soldier in the world!"
The drums began to sound in an increasingly intense beat, the lights focused, and the curtain rose.
"The Captain America!!!"
Fireworks exploded, there were cheers and applause, women screamed, men exclaimed, and the crowd of hundreds of people was filled with excitement.
Spotlights focused on the impressive figure of John, who stood firm and tall with both hands on his hips and a genuine smile on his face.
He puffed out his chest and raised his right hand, forming the characteristic salute of American soldiers.
His perfectly aligned white teeth almost seemed to emit their own light, music began to play lightly, and dancers emerged from behind the stage, lining up behind him, ready to start their act at any moment.
John approached the microphone with much more confidence than he felt internally.
"Good and honorable men march today to the battlefield, men who once were honest and hardworking, living happy lives, now voluntarily leave their homes and join a cause much greater than any other! To protect our freedom and our lives" he walked across the stage with his head held high, his strong, sonorous voice filling the venue as his eyes met those of the people in the stands.
"I know not everyone can fight on the front lines, and in an ideal world, no one would have to. But this is not an ideal world, and this is not just any war. That's why today I stand before you, before the nation and my people, to ask for your help, help to assist those good men who fight for us today, those who risk their lives, their dreams, and their future, so that our world becomes a safer and more prosperous place every day, where our sons and daughters can grow up safe and happy"
"So I hope that you find within yourselves the spirit of unity that has forged this nation in its darkest moments and has given us the most glorious days. Today, on this great day, you can make a difference, because no matter how small, every contribution will serve to allow our men, our soldiers, to see the dawn of a new day."
"Every war bond sold will become a hand that supports the backs of those great heroes who enlist for battle. Your contribution will serve to raise the flag of freedom over the heads of our enemies and bring the destruction of everything that threatens justice and honor!"
"To bring a better tomorrow, so that even in the darkest night, light still illuminates this world. Today, I urge all those present to raise their voices! Who is with me in this fight for our freedom!!!?"
He raised his fist towards the masses, and the masses responded to his call.
The ovations came like a tide, applause and cheers, the crowd roared along with him.
John smiled; working as a low-wage salesman in his previous life had served him quite well.
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"Spectacular! Sublime! Your speech is already making waves across the entire country!"
Edward, his representative and the army's public relations manager, shouted with a big smile as he held up several newspapers where John's name and image were on the front page. John looked at him and teased
"Better than the speech you gave me, huh?"
Edward frowned. When John's first presentation ended, Edward had scolded him a bit because he had thrown away the prepared speech.
Now, even if he didn't want to, he had to admit that the speech they had given him was rubbish in comparison.
"Forget about that! People are dying to see you. We've sold out tickets for the scheduled presentations and we're opening more. Kid, I need you to get ready because you're going to travel all over the country" he put his hand on John's shoulder with a big smile.
John sighed. "If you had let me use the name I wanted, this could have gone beyond the country"
Edward rolled his eyes.
"You're a soldier of the United States, not of the world. We just need you to be a success among our people and maybe the allies; the rest, we'll see after the war" Edward began to leave, still having much to work on.
"Besides, Captain America sounds much better than Captain Marvel" he said before leaving the dressing room, leaving John alone.
The super soldier watched him go and shook his head. Well, what's done is done; Captain America was still a good name.
John looked at himself in the mirror. Fortunately, he had been able to have more influence on the costume.
He was a soldier, so he had to wear green, that's what he said when the image designers started making sketches. That proposal was almost immediately rejected. He needed to be eye-catching, something that people would turn to look at no matter what they were doing.
Reluctantly, John accepted that he would have to wear the characteristic colors but demanded that they add some black and make the blue darker, and the whites less white, leaning more towards silver.
He needed to be iconic, so the star on the chest stayed, but with the addition of what seemed to be silver eagle wings on either side of it. He needed to be recognizable, so he asked not to wear a mask.
He needed to look like a real soldier and a hero at the same time, so he was allowed to wear more than just thin fabric. Fortunately, the army's public relations department had some money, so reluctantly, they were able to meet his demands.
And that had been a complete success. His image was on the front page of every newspaper in the country, even starting to spread to allied countries.
It would be embarrassing for the U.S. army if the image of the country wore a poorly made costume.
John looked at himself in the mirror. It was strange, the stage, the lights, the exclamations, and ovations.
Despite getting everything he had wanted, it still felt unreal, fake, as if he were just in a dream. But this wasn't a dream; it was real, and it was his life, a life that would soon be engulfed in chaos and turmoil.
The sound of flirtatious laughter came, and behind him, the dressing room door opened. Several of the dancers entered with mischievous smiles, their eyes meeting through the mirror, and John smiled, admiring their attractively athletic bodies as they began to undress for him.
The future might be tumultuous, but the present was now, and before being thrown into the flames of war, one had to enjoy their moments of peace.
After all, he was the man who would save the world.
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"I know the future seems uncertain, but that's just a deception our enemies seek to implant in the minds of our youth. The reality is that we are stronger than ever! Every contribution and donation you have made has managed to safeguard thousands of lives. Every day that passes, our enemies tremble before our army because it is clear to them that our people will not yield to any threat. They tremble in fear because they know they will never be able to bend us!"
His voice echoed throughout the venue, people cheered and applauded, and suddenly!!!
Falling from the ceiling, sliding down long ropes, twelve men dressed in black raised "weapons" towards John. Then, one more emerged from the shadows. The crude imitation of Hitler exclaimed loudly with poorly pronounced German words. As if it were a command, his men rushed towards the super soldier with ferocity.
The crowd screamed in fear, children stood up with wide eyes.
John moved quickly and agilely, with punches and kicks excellently practiced, within seconds he disarmed them and easily lifted their bodies, tossing them off the stage to a place out of sight of the spectators.
In the face of the demonstration of superhuman strength, the audience exclaimed, and "Hitler" trembled. He tried to raise his weapon, but with a quick kick, John snatched it from his hand and approached him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting his body easily into the air.
John smiled at the audience, clenched his fist, and punched Hitler in the face while using his other hand to exert some force, sending the man flying to the same place as the others.
"And no matter what dirty tactics they use, they will always fail. You know why?" he asked, placing his palm to his ear. The crowd waited expectantly, ready to shout along with him.
"Because I am here!!!"
As he said that, he flexed the arm he had used to strike the Hitler impersonator, causing the crowd to scream even louder.
The tour continued, wherever he went, people gathered in masses. He signed posters, comics of himself, and even personally baptized some children.
He participated in recordings, whether for commercials and advertisements or for full-length movies. He personally wrote several scripts and even released his own songs.
Soon, the slogan he had chosen began to spread among the public.
"Because I am here!"
Discreetly but effectively, he began to add more and more of his own importance into his speeches.
"Hitler and his men think they can impose their absurd ideologies on our people, poison the minds of our children, and blind them while they commit atrocities around the world. Well, I disagree! I believe that freedom, justice, and respect for life are the truth. That's why, no matter what, I will defend these beliefs until my last breath! As long as I stand, as long as I am here, nothing and no one can bend the world or its people!"
He looked at the crowd and smiled.
"Because my mission, my one true mission, is to protect them, to safeguard this world and its people, to preserve justice and peace, and that's Because..." The crowd waited expectantly, ready to rise from their seats.
"I am here!!!"
He briefly bowed as the crowd roared, throwing roses and shouting his name.
"Captain! Captain! Captain!"
"AMERICA!!!"
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Shaking hands, smiling, engaging in casual conversation—John had started to get used to it.
Still, it was boring. All those fake smiles and uninteresting people were quickly becoming tiresome.
It was the night after an important presentation, and John had found the perfect moment to excuse himself and escape from the main hall where "important" people were busy licking each other's boots..
He made his way to a secluded balcony where the views of New York greeted him. Returning to the Big Apple after traveling across the country felt like coming home after a long business trip.
He looked at the starry sky and lit his cigar. The best thing about being a superhuman? Super lungs. He had never dared to smoke in his previous life for fear of getting sick, but in this life, many of those concerns had become inconsequential.
"Almost time" he heard that the next show was especially for the army. If he wasn't mistaken, this would be the moment when he should leave the "showbiz" life behind. It had been beautiful while it lasted. John would truly cherish these memories. He had always wanted to be an actor, always wanted to be famous, and he had achieved it. Now, he needed to do the real heavy lifting. Leisure time was over; it was time to face destiny.
As he contemplated the not-so-distant future, footsteps behind him caught his attention. They were trembling, nervous, like someone hesitating to approach. Perhaps another beneficial characteristic of being a super soldier was the "super" senses.
He could see better, he could even see in the night without any light. He could hear better, not at the level of hearing everything that happened on the planet or anything like that, but enough better to not be taken by surprise.
John hadn't just been enjoying life; he had also been training, getting used to his new strength, testing his senses, learning, and studying.
In reality, he had mastered German in less than a week. He still had some accent, but he could speak it, listen to it, and write it perfectly. The same went for Japanese, French, and several other languages.
in addition to that he had familiarized himself with all types of weaponry of the present era., as well as vehicles and how to operate them. If he was going to war, he needed to know at least what he was up against.
Super soldier or not, anyone could be taken by surprise, and he wasn't going to tarnish the image he had worked so hard to build by being careless.
His mind, although it didn't feel different, had changed. He wouldn't say he was a super genius, but certainly the speed at which he could comprehend and learn had skyrocketed. He didn't feel smarter, but he felt more capable.
John sighed and extinguished the cigar with his fingers, unperturbed by the heat that would have hurt others. He turned, ready for another meaningless conversation.
What he saw was a middle-aged woman acting strangely. She was dressed in typical high-class attire of the era, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. When their gazes met, she opened and closed her mouth as if she wanted to speak but didn't know what to say.
"Everything okay, ma'am?" At his question, the woman seemed to regain her composure. She swallowed and hesitated before clenching her fists and taking a step forward.
"You're Captain America! You're a hero! They talk about you everywhere. They say you save the world, you help everyone, that you can do anything..." her behavior was very strange, discordant. John couldn't quite identify what was wrong.
"Well, not everything. I still don't know how to fly" he joked, trying to lighten the strangely heavy atmosphere. She laughed, relaxing a bit, but still visibly fearful, and continued speaking.
"I didn't know where else to go. I had nowhere else to go. My parents... they hate me now. I changed, I became different... Weird. So, I ran away and saw the posters. I thought if it was you, you could help me, tell me what's happening to me"
She was panicked and scared, it was obvious to see. As well as the almost childlike hope and excitement in her eyes when she looked at him.
It was strange.
"Alright, I can help you, just tell me the problem" the woman nodded, nervously swallowing but seeming to trust him enough to decide to proceed.
Then suddenly, her figure began to change, as if her entire shape were undergoing a complete transformation, like a metamorphosis.
Soon, her height decreased by several centimeters, her skin started to turn blue, and intense red hair replaced the Blonde, yellow eyes looking at him nervously and fearfully, as if expecting an adverse reaction, perhaps waiting for disgust or fear.
John observed the body of the 15-year-old girl before him and had to use all his self-control not to show his surprise. He simply raised an eyebrow to show a hint of "amazement"
He approached her and slowly took her blue hand. She seemed nervous, but seeing no disgust or anything similar in his gaze, she let him hold her hand. John caressed the blue skin; its texture was smooth but with small parts almost like scales scattered in some sections like the knuckles. They were few and almost unnoticeable, but they were there.
"I don't know how I became like this"
Well, John knew, more or less.
"I think it's best if we have a long chat. You said you ran away, right? Have you eaten anything yet?"
She shook her head quickly. Everything had happened too quickly. Her transformation had occurred without her being able to hide it. Her parents had panicked upon seeing her, and her father had even attempted to shoot her, so she ran. She had been wandering the streets of New York all afternoon, changing her appearance until she saw the posters about Captain America's show.
That's when she snuck in using her new ability and waited until he was alone to try to talk to him.
"Alright then, let's go. I'll get you something good to eat" She nodded, still holding his hand, and followed him. John easily navigated through the place, even if it was his first time there. He had already memorized the layout, making it easy for him to avoid people using his heightened senses.
As he led her towards his private dressing room, he couldn't help but glance at the girl with blue skin from the corner of his eye.
It seemed like all his plans would have to change. The future had become much less certain now, and John had lost all confidence in what he thought would be a smooth and glorious journey.
What a disaster.
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Note:
With over 100 votes (counting Patreon and other sites), winning by an almost overwhelming margin, the name "Captain America" has emerged victorious to stay!
It was certainly unexpected. To those who voted for another name, I can only apologize. Democracy has spoken, and as this is a land of freedom, cough cough, we can only abide by what the people have chosen.
As for the chapter... If the MCU is too peaceful in this period of time (metaphorically speaking), we definitely need something to spice up the plot. So let's add the X-Men tag to this.
And an AU tag as well, just in case... So X-Men AU
This is my first time writing speeches, I must say that I didn't expect it to be more difficult than it seems, I hope to get better at it as the story progresses.
You know, if there is any error in the chapter, you can tell me and I will correct it.
The next update of SuperSoldier is now available on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) and soon there will be another chapter there, If you don't want to wait for a public update, you can take a look at it n.n